


One Week until Destiny Arrives

by LadyAriadna



Series: Towards Infinity [8]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Brotherhood, Canon Compliant, F/M, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Friendship, Gen, Iron Dad, Not Beta Read, Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood, Pepperony - Freeform, Team Cap friendly, mentor-mentee relationship, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-07-13 02:15:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16008185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyAriadna/pseuds/LadyAriadna
Summary: They lived and loved not knowing the horrors that would befall them.





	One Week until Destiny Arrives

**Author's Note:**

> This is it. The last story in this series. It is highly recommended that you read the previous stories first.
> 
> Oh and, let’s just say Infinity War happened on April 25th.

**April 19, 2018 - seven days to the day**

It’s been a week since Vision disabled his transponder and Tony felt the anxiety course in his body. He always knew the time would come when Vision would decide to leave and be with Wanda. He couldn’t fault the guy, of course. If he were in his shoes, he would most likely do the same thing. The only problem was, he wanted to protect Vision and without knowing where exactly in the world he would be and if he needed backup, Tony couldn’t be there. He also needed his location so he can divert Ross’ attention elsewhere. The last place the transponder logged in was at Ireland and he hoped the little ruse Rhodey and him came up with would work.

Tony guessed he could also rely on Nat’s word, that they would protect both Vision and Wanda. Aside from that, Tony would have to hold on to Vision’s promise to be back after two weeks. _Everything will be okay._ He just had to remind himself of that every now and then.

His thoughts were interrupted when the door to his office opened and in walked Rhodey from a meeting with the secretary himself.

“Ross took the bait, hook, line and sinker. He got his boys planning an operation at Vietnam.” He smirked at Tony. He sighed in relief.

“Thanks, let’s make sure his sniffing dogs are as far away from Europe as possible.”

“Yeah. Where did Vision last use the transponder?”

“Ireland. My guess is he’s going to Scotland. Edinburgh is a charming place. Perfect for a secret date.” Tony forced a smile though he knew Rhodey would call his bullshit.

“Tony, he’s going to be fine. It’s Vision we’re talking about here. Also, we know he wouldn’t be alone.”

“Yeah, yeah you’re right.”

“You can always ask Steve, you know.” Ever since he told Rhodey of Nat’s visit, he’d been reminding Tony of the burner phone he always carried with him. “He can keep an eye on them.”

Tony’s silence made Rhodey sigh.

“You’re doing it again Tones.”

“What?”

“This whole lone gunslinger thing. Look,” Rhodey placed a hand on his shoulder, “I get it. You want to protect them and you haven’t fully forgiven Steve but, sooner or later, we need the team together, working together. Tony-”

“I have to do this alone.” Tony pleaded.

“You and your stubborn ass!” He lightly shoved Tony and added in a soft voice, “But you don’t get to have a say though. I go with you. Remember? You ride with me.”

Tony gave his brother a small smile but if given the chance, he wouldn’t let Rhodey anywhere near mortal danger. One near-death experience was enough.

\---

**April 21, 2018 - five days to the day**

“If only hacking is this easy.” Ned said as he played 9S’ section in Nier: Automata. That Saturday, Peter and Ned continued their run of the PS4 game. “Mr. Stark plays video games, right? Do you think he would like this one?”

“Yes and maybe,” Peter replied as he watched his best friend go through the forest section of the game, “but I don’t think he has the time to play games like this though. I saw him play Sims 4 once.” Peter grinned. “He said the AI was basic but interesting. He also said it’s research for a possible gaming studio.” What his mentor didn’t tell him - but Peter figured out - was that Mr. Stark enjoyed creating characters in the Sims based on real people. He even made a Tony Sim and a Pepper Sim and he was so happy when both characters had a baby.

“Dude, that would be so awesome!” Ned enthused.

“I know right!”

“By the way, did you tell him we’re going on a field trip?”

“Damn, I kept forgetting! I guess I’ll let him know tomorrow when I visit the compound.”

“Tomorrow? Aw man,” he groaned as he paused the game, “I thought we’ll finish this one until tomorrow. We _have_ to get all the endings.”

“Sorry, Ned but Mr. Stark said he’s gonna teach me how to code an AI like Friday and Karen.” Peter hoped Ned would understand.

“Peter, what is your life? That is so freaking cool!” Ned exclaimed and Peter was relieved as he laughed. “Okay, I’ll just wait until you’re free.”

“No no no no, you can play the game then just tell me what happens.”

“Where’s the fun in that? You have to be here for the twists in this story!”

“Okay, next weekend, we’ll finish everything.”

“Yes! Oh, guess what I got on sale.” Ned pulled up a case from his bag. Peter gasped as he reached out and carefully held it in his hands.

“Finally! Shadow of the Colossus Remake!”

“Yeah, so you have to be here dude.”

“I promise, I’ll be here.” Peter grinned.

\---

**April 22, 2018 - four days to the day**

It was time! Peter would learn how to code his own AI! He could finally do maintenance on Karen without Mr. Stark. Peter was so excited he couldn’t help but fidget. Maybe he can even learn how to make a holographic AI so he can code one for Karen. He would definitely ask Mr. Stark about that.

As soon as Happy dropped him off at the Avengers Compound, he thanked him, hopped out of the car and almost sprinted all the way to the labs.

“No running in the hallways!” Cap the Roomba hollered as Peter ran past it.

“Sorry, Cap!” He said but didn’t slow down one bit, not until he got near the automatic doors of the lab.

“Hey Friday! Hey Mr. Stark! Guess what, I’m going on a field trip this- oh!” Peter stopped as he realized his mentor wasn’t around.

“Hi Peter!” Friday greeted. “I’m sorry but Boss is still on a meeting. He said it will be done in around fifteen minutes.”

“Oh, that’s okay. Thanks Fri.” Peter dropped his backpack at his table. 

“No worries. Where are you going on your field trip?”

“We’re going to MoMa. We’ve been there a lot of times before but any chance to get out of class, the better. No complaints here.” Peter sniggered as he pulled out his homework from his bag. Suddenly, loud noises made him jump up. It was the sound of multiple metallic objects as they hit the floor. “What the-” He turned towards the commotion and found Dum-E as he frantically tried but unsuccessfully clean the mess. Dum-E’s incessant apologetic beeps filled the lab.

“Hey, hey hey. It’s okay,” Peter softly assured the bot, “I’ll help you out. It’s okay, Dum-E. Whoa! That’s a lot of junk!”

“Boss kept ignoring the reminders to have those recycled; the same reminders that he himself set.” Peter chuckled as he heard the fond exasperation from her voice.

“Well, I guess I can do this to pass the time.” Recycling the junk wasn’t really hard. Only, the bins were all the way at the other end of the lab and for someone, such as Mr. Stark, that tended to have tunnel-vision when really focused on something, the task felt tedious so he forgets.

While Peter sorted out the stuff, he saw something familiar buried underneath the pile; something red and gold. He pulled it out and saw a broken Iron Man helmet. The front of the helmet was intact but the back of it was detached.

“Is this supposed to be here Friday?”

“Yes, just put it in with the trash.”

“Really? Maybe I can fix this.”

“Don’t worry about it, Peter. Just throw that out.” Friday’s insistence seemed suspicious to Peter.

“Wait, does this have the same monitoring system as mine?” Peter mischievously grinned. Maybe there’s an embarrassing footage he could salvage from it.

“Peter-”

“Friday, I’m gonna get some blackmail material and you can’t stop me.” He hooked up the helmet to his laptop and, as he suspected, there were videos stored in its memory. “Gotcha!” Peter thought the helmet was one of those trashed after a failed test run. Maybe there’s a video of Mr. Stark face planting, or something.

Peter pulled up the most recent video and played it. Instead of Mr. Stark’s testing area, the video was taken at what looked like an old and dark military bunker. This made him frown.

_“I got heat signatures”_

Peter recognised and expected his mentor’s voice but the one who talked next was a surprise. He heard that voice both at his school’s PSAs and in one of his Roombas: Captain America.

_“How many?”_

_“Uh, one.”_

They walked into what seemed to be a cylindrical room. There looked like a torture device in the middle and five cylinders by the walls, white smoke spilled off of them. As Mr. Stark, Captain America and the guy with the metal arm walked further in, the cylinders lit up with yellow light and inside were what looked like… dead people? Peter felt a chill run down his spine. He knew he stumbled into something he shouldn’t see but, for the life of him, he could not look away.

_”If it’s any comfort, they died in their sleep.”_

An unfamiliar voice came out of the speakers. They walked closer towards the yellow cylinders and Peter saw there was a dead person on each cylinder and each were shot on their heads.

_”Did you really think I wanted more of you? I’m grateful for them though. They brought you here.”_

At one of the walls, a small window lit up to reveal a man who must’ve been the one talking via the speakers. Both Mr. Stark and Cap turned towards the man; his mentor aimed at the man while Cap threw his shield towards it but it did not even dent the glass.

_”Please Captain. The Soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR-100 rockets.”_

_”I’m betting I could beat that.”_ Mr. Stark remarked. Peter felt dread. From what he heard, after Germany, it got real personal and real ugly. His mentor didn’t tell him the details.

_”Oh, I’m sure you could, Mr. Stark. Given time. But then you’d never know why you came.”_

_”You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?”_ Cap said as he walked closer to the man on the window.

Both Cap and the man seemed to be talking but after some time, the man looked like he pushed a button and the nearby monitor powered up. On the screen was the number 16 then a bunch of Russian letters then 1991. It was a date.

 _”An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumbles from within? That’s dead. Forever.”_ The trepidation Peter felt was at an all time high. Mr. Stark walked closer towards the monitor and looked at it.

 _”I know that road.”_ He said. It was a CCTV footage of a road surrounded by trees. _”What is this?”_ The man did not answer. The video continued and a car was shown as it crashed on a tree head on. Then a motorcycle stopped near the crashed car. 

_”Help my wife. Please. Help.”_ A man crawled out of the car. Peter knew that man. He’d seen his pictures on documentaries and on a mural at school. It was Howard Stark! Peter knew the story of how Mr. Stark’s parents died as did everyone! But this was… it wasn’t an accident?! Peter watched in horror as the other man with the motorcycle yanked Mr. Stark’s head back.

 _”Sergeant Barnes?”_ That was the guy with the metal arm! Peter heard Mr. Stark’s mom call out to her husband while Sgt. Barnes punched his mentor’s dad on the face with his metal fist. Peter couldn’t believe it. He was horrified! Unbidden images of Uncle Ben’s dead body flashed in his mind. He remembered the anguish, despair and anger he felt. He couldn’t stop his tears the more he watched and remembered.

He sympathized with his mentor. It was one thing to be told that his parents died in a car crash; it was another when he was shown that the whole thing was a lie. It wasn’t an accident! Mr. Stark’s parents were murdered! Murdered by someone that stood only a few feet away!

Mr. Stark moved to attack Sgt. Barnes and if Peter was there, he would’ve done the same but, he was held back by Cap. Peter was flabbergasted. _What?_

 _”No, Tony.”_ His mentor looked at Cap.

_”Did you know?”_

_”I didn’t know it was him.”_

_”Don’t bullshit me, Rogers. Did you know?”_

_”Yes.”_ Peter gasped. _He knew all along?! All those times, Cap knew and he never told Mr. Stark?! He even protected the murderer?! Why?!_ Tears of grief and anger continued to roll down his cheeks as he watched two super soldiers fight his mentor and father-figure. He watched as Cap destroyed the suit’s main arc reactor and left him beaten with a broken suit, alone. 

Peter could barely hear Friday call out to him. It was hard to breathe. If only he was there… If only... He would’ve…

\---

Tony rushed out of the meeting without a care for the board of directors. He gave one look at Pepper and she knew it was an emergency so, she channeled their attention to her. Friday sounded frantic. Something happened to his kid so meeting be damned!

“Peter?” He burst in the lab and looked for Peter.

“I-I-I-I’m-I’m s-sorry…” The kid cried, hyperventilating. “I-I sh-shouldn’t have… I-I-I thought…” Tony saw the broken helmet that was hooked up to the kid’s laptop and he sighed. He should’ve melted the damn thing as soon as he got back from Siberia. _This is my fault!_

“Oh, Pete…” He firmly placed a hand at the back of Peter’s neck and pulled the kid towards his shoulder to let the kid rest his forehead. He leaned towards Peter’s head and hoped the gesture would calm him down. “It’s okay. Slow breaths. You’re okay. I’m okay. Match my breathing. You can do it.” Peter did as was told and as soon as he calmed down a little, Tony felt Peter hug him.

“About your parents, I’m so sorry.” Tony hugged him back.

“It’s been years. It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not okay! They lied to you! And-and...” Peter clutched Tony’s shirt. “Cap-Rogers, he-”

“Hey, hey,” Tony softly interrupted, “I won’t pretend it didn’t hurt but you don’t need to be angry for my sake, kid.”

“But he should’ve told you!”

“I can’t justify his actions, Peter. What I know is, he had his reasons. I can’t deny that I would’ve killed Barnes for vengeance there. At least, he prevented that.” Peter stepped back from the hug and, though he hadn’t stopped crying, he looked at Tony with eyes filled with righteous anger. 

“I should’ve been there with you!”

“We’re not that close then and, even if we were, I wouldn’t have let you come with me.”

“It was two against one,” Peter shouted as he pointed at the laptop, “it wasn’t fair!” 

“They didn’t try to kill me.” He gently tried to reign in Peter’s anger. “They just wanted to stop me from fighting back.”

“He was supposed to be your friend! Your brother-in-arms! Family!” Peter’s indignation pulled Tony’s heartstrings. He didn’t know what he did to deserve an amazing kid like Peter. Words were not enough to convey how grateful he was. Tony sighed and hugged his kid.

“What’s done was done.” He rubbed circles in his kid’s back. “This mess, it’s just between the three of us. I don’t want you getting mixed up in this.”

“But-”

“Peter, I’m asking you to stay out of this not because I don’t trust you or your abilities. I don’t want to involve more people in it. Especially you.”

“Okay.” Peter softly acquiesced after a few seconds of contemplation. “But… Mr. Stark, I’ll always be on your side.”

“Oh, kid. You don’t have to be in anyone’s side.” He pulled back to look at Peter in the eyes. “There will be times when I will be wrong. And I will screw up. In this instance, both sides had valid points and made mistakes. No one is entirely right or wrong. Sooner or later, there will come a time when you have to choose but base it on your own beliefs and principles, not blind loyalty. Do you understand?”

“But-”

“Peter, do you understand me?” Tony gently but firmly reiterated. 

“Yeah.” Peter answered as he wiped the remaining tears from his eyes with his jacket’s sleeves.

“Good.” Tony firmly squeezed Peter’s shoulders.

“Please don’t ask me to forgive them for what they’ve done to you, Mr. Stark.” Peter pleaded. Tony didn’t know what to say to that. “And, I’m sorry I looked at the helmet’s records.”

“No, no it was my fault. I should’ve thrown it out months ago.”

“Yeah,” Peter said with a small smile, “next time listen to the reminders you set yourself.” Both faintly chuckled. “And, uumm…” Peter looked at the floor as he tugged at his jacket’s cuffs, “sorry I made the Cap Roomba.” Tony frowned at that.

“Why would you apologize for that?”

“It’s-it’s a constant reminder of, you know…” Peter looked back up at him.

“Kid,” he smiled, “the damn Cap Roomba may be annoying but to me, it’s a constant reminder of how brilliant you are.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah.” Tony ruffled Peter’s hair. “So don’t you dare dismantle or throw it away. Got that?”

“Okay.” He gave Tony a genuine smile.

“Alright, enough of this. Let me just melt down this helmet along with the rest of the junk, then we’ll start with the coding lessons.”

“Okay, I’ll help.”

\---

**April 25, 2018 - That morning...**

Pepper thought Tony was weird, well weirder than usual, that day. It all started when she woke up without Tony at her side.

“Good morning Pepper!” Friday said in her Irish lilt. “It’s seven in the morning and you have no appointments and meetings today.”

“Good morning, Friday. Where’s Tony? Fri, please tell me he’s not in the lab again.” They both decided to take the day off and just spend most of the day at the penthouse.

“Surprisingly, boss is in the kitchen, cooking. Or at least he’s trying to cook.”

“What?!”

“Don’t worry, fire extinguishers are ready, just in case.”

“Thanks, I better check myself.” She got up, put on a wardrobe then walked towards the, hopefully, still intact kitchen. As she got closer, the smell of bacon and eggs permeated the air.

“Hey, good morning, honey!” Tony grinned as soon as he saw her walk in. “Today’s breakfast is toast, bacon and eggs. Sleep well?”

“Yeah. Are you okay?” Pepper furled her eyebrows.

“Splendid! Here,” he placed a serving of food on the table, “what do you want? Orange juice or tea?”

“Tea.” She answered while she observed him. “Okay, what is it?”

“What?” Tony looked at her, eyebrows raised with his big doe eyes that made it hard for her to keep a stern face.

“What happened? What did you do this time?” Pepper placed both of her hands on her hips.

“Nothing. I just want to spoil my beautiful fiancé today.” He said as he walked closer, kissed her on the lips and then held her close. “Did I tell you you’re positively glowing today? You’re radiant!”

“Uh-huh…” Pepper looked at him suspiciously. “Last time you did this, you were dying. You can’t blame me for being suspicious, Tony.”

“I swear, honey, nothing blew up-”

“Something blew up?!”

“No no no no, that was just an example.” He rubbed her arms to calm her down then he calmly continued. “Nothing happened and nothing will happen. In fact, I had the most wonderful dream last night that I will tell you later on. So,” he gestured towards her seat, “will you have breakfast with me?”

She looked at the food and surprisingly, he did well. The eggs were a little runny and the bacon a little burned but it looked good. She smiled then sighed.

“Okay, we’re still going on a morning jog at Central Park later.” Then, she added when he was about to protest. “You’ve been cooped up in your lab. You need to go out and get some fresh air. I promise after, we’ll just stay here and do whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want, huh?” He asked with a smirk and and eyebrow raised. Her only response was a coy smile. “Okay, you got me, future Mrs. Stark.” She giggled as she received another kiss from her fiancé. 

It’s been years since she first met Tony and she had no clue then that they’ll end up together. The idea didn’t even enter her mind. This time though, after all the ups and downs, they would finally tie the knot. She couldn’t wait to spend the rest of her life with Tony.

\---

“Peter! Hurry up! You don’t want to be late for the field trip!” May hollered as she piled enough pancakes for his nephew’s breakfast. She sniggered as she heard the bangs and clatters that came from the teen’s room.

“Yeah, yeah sorry. Ow!”

“You okay in there?”

“Yeah!” 

May fondly remembered a younger Peter that clung to her and asked if she can come with him to his field trip. Years after, with all the superhero responsibilities added to being a teenager, her nephew grew up too fast. She sighed.

Peter sprinted out of the room, backpack in hand, towards the dining area and plopped down his seat.

“Thanks, May!” He practically inhaled the pancakes.

“Hey, hey not too fast or you’ll get sick.” She chuckled.

“Sorry.” Peter smiled apologetically and slowed down a bit. “Oh man, can’t believe I woke up late!”

“I did tell you not to go on patrol but noooo… You just had to go.” She received a surprised stare. She smirked. “Yes, I know what you did.”

“Sorry.” Peter’s sheepish countenance made her giggle. _Cute kid!_ To her, he would always be a baby, her baby. 

“Alright! Finish up or you’ll miss the train. Do you have the permission slip with you?”

“Yeah, right here.” He pulled it out of his bag to show her then put it back in. “Done! Thanks for the pancakes, May.”

“You’re welcome. Now, go! Be careful. I know you have your suit with you but please, no superhero stuff today, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Just the field trip.”

“Okay, take care.” She watched as Peter stood to leave. He was about to get out of the apartment when he turned back towards her.

“I forgot something.” He said before he hugged her tight. She hugged him back. She had the urge to not let go. “Thank you so much, May. For everything. I love you.”

“I love you too, Peter.” She ran a hand on his curls then pulled out of the hug to kiss his forehead. “Now go, you’ll be late.” He chuckled.

“Bye, May.”

“Bye.”

**Author's Note:**

> In hindsight, May realized she should’ve said “see you later” instead of “bye”.
> 
> That goodbye scene between May and Peter made me cry as I wrote it. T^T There are real life instances wherein those who died seemed like they were saying their final goodbyes and the people left behind only realized that as they look back to their final moment together.
> 
> I think both Ned and Peter are more of an RPG type of players thus, the PS4. I’m sure Tony would buy him his own console (all of the latest available ones) if asked but, Peter won’t ask. He would rather save up for his own. So, these boys thought it best be thrifty and just play in one PS4 then buy all the games they want with their own money. Also, I think they’re the type that likes JRPGs like Nier, Persona, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts.
> 
> In the comics [Tony Stark: Iron Man #3](https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/69961/tony_stark_iron_man_2018_3), Stark Unlimited created a VR game called the Great eScape. It’s so awesome! Do check it out if you have the chance.
> 
> It’s confirmed in the comic tie-in [Spider-man: Homecoming Prelude](https://www.marvel.com/comics/series/22534/marvels_spider-man_homecoming_prelude_2017) that Peter didn’t know the details of what happened after Germany. He didn’t even mention Siberia. He just said, “From what I hear, it got real personal. And real ugly. Mr. Stark didn't share the details. He just sent me back home…”
> 
> There’s actually another section with Peter and Happy where he asked the kid to help him catch Bert/Burt the paparazzo. Unfortunately, it just did not work. It was frustrating so I deleted it. So please, consider this as a writing prompt and if you want to write that scene, go ahead. I hope I get to read it someday.
> 
> There you go, the end. We all know what happened next. I don’t have any plans to add to this series. I cannot deny that I have ideas for future stories but, we’ll see. As soon as I have another Iron Dad and Spiderson story, I’ll definitely share it in this site.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and for all the hits, kudos and the comments! I love you guys! I really appreciate it! Please accept a virtual hug from me! ^_^


End file.
